When Qing Shan came to, he found himself back in the cave with Liu Tiansheng.
'Ugh…'
Seeing that Qing Shan was awake, Liu Tiansheng walked over to him.
"This old one congratulated you boy, you tempered your body for a whole year in the energy waves of two Primal Elements."
Of course, Qing Shan had no clue what Liu Tiansheng was talking about, and sent a questioning look toward the ethereal figure.
"Each element is made of huge amounts of elemental Qi. What you just trained in was the holding container of the seeds of the fire and wind Primal Qi. This means that in the center of that volcano and that sphere of wind there was a small amount of elemental qi that dates back to the creation of the world. In this Uncle's life, he was only lucky enough to get three of these Primal Seeds. The ones that this one obtained were Primal Seeds of fire, wind, and water."
Hearing this Qing Shan immediately realized that the hot spring that kept healing him was the Primal Water. However, he was still worried about something.
'Senior, I did temper my body for a whole year, but I could not complete the goal that you assigned me.'
Qing Shan was obviously thinking about how Liu Tiansheng had told him to get within five meters of each element.
Knowing what Qing Shan was thinking about, Liu Tiansheng, who had already resolved to try to unblock Qing Shan's Qi, laughed.
"Actually, in order for you to have a chance of surviving This one unblocking your Qi, you only needed to be able to advance five meters toward the Primal Elements, and not actually get within five meters of them. Besides, the Primal Water tempered your body to an extent that you probably do not even understand. As such, this uncle has resolved to attempt to unblock your Qi."
Hearing this, Qing Shan's regretful mood instantly turned completely around. He jumped up excitedly, and his thoughts were so loud that even an animal would be able to understand them.
'Yes! Let's do it now!'
Liu Tiansheng shook his head, confused how this boy who had come to him filled only with determination and a desire for revenge could smile so innocently. Naturally, he knew that a large part of Qing Shan's excitement was due to gaining power, which would assist his revenge, but he was still surprised that this boy who had been through hell could still make a genuine smile.
"Okay. We will do it as soon as I am ready. Give me an hour to recover some Qi."
With that, Liu Tiansheng faded into the statue, leaving Qing Shan looking excitedly at the statue, as if willing time to move faster.
Soon, Qing Shan calmed down. While he wanted nothing more than to gain enough power to get revenge, he knew that the method that Liu Tiansheng would attempt on his body could prove fatal. Turning completely serious, Qing Shan entered meditation, his mind preparing for his Qi to be unblocked.
After an hour, a time that seemed like an eternity to Qing Shan, Liu Tiansheng stepped out of his statue, his ethereal form glowing an even more brilliant blue than it was before. He then spoke solemnly: "Let's get started."
Liu Tiansheng directed Qing Shan to sit on the floor cross-legged and to calm his mind. Once Qing Shan appeared ready, Liu Tiansheng placed his palm directly on Qing Shan's forehead, drawing out his Heart Fire.
From there Liu Tiansheng sent out a thin strand of wind Qi, but this qi seemed like it contained power almost equal to that of the Primal Wind. Liu Tiansheng sent this Qi through Qing Shan's body, using it to complete a Qi circulation.
Almost Instantly after this circulation was finished, Qing Shan collapsed in pain. Even Liu Tiansheng was not sure what had happened, as all he knew was that once he completed a circulation of his wind Qi in Qing Shan's body he instantly lost control of it.
When this happened, Qing Shan suddenly felt as though his internal organs were being assaulted by a sharp blade, and he started to bleed internally. Blood started to flow from Qing Shan's seven orifices and he collapsed onto the ground, no longer conscious.
The wind Qi in Qing Shan's body that was rampaging suddenly entered one of Qing Shan's three Major Energy Vessels, the Life Core, which was located at his sternum. The sheer power of the wind Qi caused his Life Core to crack, and his life started to fade.
Looking on at Qing Shan's body, Liu Tiansheng could tell that something had gone horribly wrong. His body was trembling terribly, and the wind Qi that had entered Qing Shan's body had started to rampage. Not only was Qing Shan bleeding from his seven orifices, but he also had blood seeping through all of the pores throughout his body. Actually, Liu Tiansheng currently had no way to tell if Qing Shan was still alive.
Suddenly, an aura that was quite familiar to Liu Tiansheng filled the room.
Liu Tiansheng started.
'Heart Fire!'
When this happened, Liu Tiansheng was certain that Qing Shan had died. However, contrary to his expectations, the Heart Fire did not leave Qing Shan's body with his soul. Instead, it faded into his skin.
At this moment, the warm golden fire of the Heart Fire entered Qing Shan's Life Core, colliding with the wind Qi. The fire Qi from the Heart fire had almost equal strength as the wind Qi, forcing the Qi back into a state of calmness. Outside of the Life Core, this was also happening in the rest of Qing Shan's body. However, something strange soon happened. When the wind Qi tried to enter Qing Shan's Dantian, his soul shook, and started to tremble violently, repelling the wind Qi. The Heart Fire, sensing the change in Qing Shan's body, moved down toward his Dantian and started to seep into his soul. The wind Qi that had been hovering outside of his Dantian entered, this time uninhibited. then, something that defied all logic happened.
Qing Shan's soul absorbed both of the different types of Qi!
Actually, considering how cultivation normally works, with cultivators absorbing Qi and circulating it within their body, turning it into Qi that is of their one element and then absorbing this Qi into their soul, this made some semblance of sense. After all, Qing Shan was borne from both wind and fire Qi.
Like in his Life Core, the Qi in Qing Shan's Dantian collided together, forming a yin-yang like shape. The same thing immediately repeated in Qing Shan's Third Eye. Just like that, things seemed to calm down. However, unbeknownst to anyone, in the meeting point of each of these small yin-yang shapes, there was a small spark.
Liu Tiansheng looked at Qing Shan's body shocked beyond belief. Even with all of the knowledge he had from his two lives, he had never seen anything like this before. Two different types of elemental Qi in the same body! If he had not seen it with his own eyes, he never would have believed in such a thing.
Soon, Qing Shan awoke, not having a clue as to what had happened since the procedure had begun. All he could remember was a sudden onslaught of pain and then the blackness of falling unconscious.
However, when Qing Shan looked toward Liu Tiansheng, the smile on the older man's face told him that he had succeeded.
'Yes! I did it! I have the power to cultivate!'
Liu Tiansheng only shook his head with a strange look in his eye, before walking over to Qing Shan.
"Well boy, we have successfully unblocked your Qi. However, your Qi seems as though it is much different from others, and you actually have two elements within your body. Usually, if this were to happen you would be in unimaginable pain as the elements competed for dominance over your body, but this did not happen. Honestly, this Uncle has no clue how you are even alive. All that can be said is that you are different from anyone this one has ever seen before throughout his two lifetimes."
A troubled look appeared on Qing Shan's face.
'does this mean that I will not be able to cultivate?'
"No, not at all. However, you do need to be prepared to face difficulties during your cultivation that other's do not have to face."
Seeing Qing Shan nod resolutely, a though suddenly struck Liu Tiansheng.
"By the way boy, you do know that the Primal Water healed all of your body's problems right? Except for you cultivation, all physical problems within your body were healed. You should be able to speak."
Qing Shan just sat there stunned, his mind blank.
'Why didn't I think of that!'
Qing Shan opened his mouth to speak, but only a few guttural noises came out. Naturally, after a whole life of not being able to talk, Qing Shan would not suddenly know how to move his mouth to speak, no matter how much he observed people speaking.
However, this one guttural noise filled Qing Shan with joy. He could speak!
For the next week, Qing Shan was ordered to rest by Liu Tiansheng. After all, it would be better to avoid any potential dangers that could occur due to attempting to cultivate right after the Qi in Qing Shan's body was awakened. However, during this week Qing Shan was not completely idle. He had managed to fully teach himself how to speak in just this one week!
After that week of rest ended, Liu Tiansheng walked over to Qing Shan with a serious look on his face. He looked as if he had resolved to do something.
"Qing Shan. Would you accept this Uncle as your master?"
When Qing Shan heard this, he was truly stunned. While he had unknowingly started to treat Liu Tiansheng as a family member, and someone that he recognized the power of, he definitely did not expect this ethereal figure to want him as a disciple.
However, who would reject becoming the disciple of a god, even if it was a dead one. Determination filled Qing Shan's eyes as he fell on his knees before the man that had given him what he desired the most: Hope!
"Qing Shan pays his respects to Master Liu!"
With this announcement, Qing Shan kowtowed three times, accepting Liu Tiansheng as his master.
Seeing this, Liu Tiansheng naturally had a smile on his face. He never would have thought that the first disciple that he ever took in the time of his existence actually appeared when he was merely a soul fragment!
"Good. Very good!"
Liu Tiansheng immediately began to instruct Qing Shan on his cultivation. After asking Qing Shan to attempt to circulate his Qi, he already ran into a problem.
Luckily, to someone who had a willpower as impressive as Qing Shan's starting to Circulate his Qi was easy. He felt that it was very easy to take some Qi from his Dantian and move it toward his First Meridian, his left hip. However, at this point, Qing Shan was immediately stopped by Liu Tiansheng, who had noticed something.
"What's wrong Master Liu, am I doing something incorrect?"
Liu Tiansheng did not say anything for a while, instead placing a hand on Qing Shan once more and observing the Qi in his body.
"No, my disciple, this is not your fault. Of both elements of your Qi, you only managed to move the Qi on the left side of your body, the fire Qi. Actually, I am not sure what to expect. Continue to circulate you Qi, and I will observe to see how we might fix this."
Qing Shan was somewhat confused by what his master was talking about, but he continued to circulate his Qi.
Liu Tiansheng watched in amazement as Qing Shan began to move his Qi throughout his body. However, he was not very surprised due to Qing Shan's mastery of his Qi at such an early time, but what was happening to the Qi as it moved through Qing Shan's body.
Once Qing Shan's Qi moved from his left hip to the bottom of his spine, another change occurred. The Qi now on his Second Meridian actually split into two different elements. The Qi stayed as two elements until it reached Qing Shan's Forth Meridian, his left shoulder. When the Qi had reached this point, it had transferred back into purely fire element Qi. When the Qi got to his Fifth Meridian, his throat, it transformed back into both fire and wind Qi. The next change happened when the Qi reached Qing Shan's Sixth meridian, his right shoulder. This time, the Qi had become only the wind elemental Qi. After this, The Qi became both elements at his Life Core, then only Wind Qi at Qing Shan's Seventh Meridian, his right hip. The Qi then became dual elemental again when it returned to his Dantian.
Liu Tiansheng now had a relative understanding of what was going on and told Qing Shan to stop circulating his Qi. The boy's body was actually split perfectly in half between the elements!
[NOTE: The First and Fourth Meridians are on the left side of Qing Shan's body, while the Sixth and Seventh are on his right side. His Three Major Vessels (Dantian, Life Core, Third Eye) and his Second, Third and Fifth Meridians lie on the center line of his body. A cultivator's body has Seven Meridians and Three Major Vessels.]